Meeting Mr Shinji
by goldensphere
Summary: Say hello to the new generation! Join the adventures of the kids of Ash, Misty, Gary, Leaf, Drew, May, Dawn, and Paul(who ends up being the teacher of Gary Junior(poor guy)).
1. What If

**Hi everyone! Here's a new story. Ever thought of what would happen if Paul ended up being Gary's son's teacher? Well now you get to find out! Told from Gary's son's P.O.V. Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1: What If  
_**

Hello. My name is Gary Junior and, as you've probably figured, my father has named me after himself. Unfortunately.

I have blue eyes and dark brown, kinda longish hair brushed backwards, ending just below my ear. I go to Oak View Middle School along with my friends, Stem, Tom Ato, and Watergem. All three of them are children my father's childhood friends, Leaf, Ashy-boy, and Misty. Or at least that's what he calls them. Tomorrow is the first day of grade six for all four of us and everyone's in hope that we don't get _Mr. Shinji_ for homeroom. _The_ Mr. Shinji.

Although we haven't met him in person yet, rumors say that he is the strictest teacher in _all_ of middle school. He expects everyone to be perfect, and, if we're not, he gives the worst of punishments. But _I'm_ not scared of him. Nuh-uh. Not me. In fact, Stem and I are planning to play a little _prank_ on him if he ends up being our teacher.

And this is where the story begins...

* * *

 _Beep beep beep beep._

The sound of my alarm clock woke me up from my sleep.

 _Beep beep beep beep._

I groaned and turned around on my bed to see that it was six o'clock on my digital alarm clock. I had lost the habit to wake up so early.

 _Beep beep bee_ —

I lazily turned it off, sat up on my bed, and gave a loud yawn while stretching my arms. _  
_

"Wake up Sleepy-Head," my thirteen-year-old sister, Daisalyn, called out from outside my slightly open bedroom door. She wore a pink and yellow t-shirt that my Aunt Daisy had given her along with a white mini-skirt and pink and white joggers over pink knee-socks. She wore a small amount of lip gloss.

"Go away," I mumbled grumpily as I plopped back onto my bed. I watched, bored, as she tossed back her brown ponytail and adjusted her thin, pink glasses on her blueish grey eyes.

"Fine," she huffed angrily, and with her nose stuck in the air, she swiftly walked away.

I rolled my eyes. _Sisters._

After lying down for a few more minutes, I managed to drag myself out of bed and made my way to my closet. I slipped on the first clothes I saw: a plain blue full-sleeved shirt and grey sweatpants. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I brushed my hair, added some hair gel, and headed downstairs.

My father looked up from the newspaper he was reading. Newspaper _comics_ to be specific.

"Good morning, Gary the Second!" he exclaimed cockily. "Or should I say, _Prince_ Gary."

My sister rolled her eyes.

"After all," he continued, "what else do you call the son of a king?"

"I'm leaving. Bye," I said as I slung my black backpack over my shoulder. "I wanna be early on the first day."

I grabbed a cookie on the way out the door.

"What about your lunch?" he asked, watching me go.

"I'll get something from the cafeteria or something," I said, looking over my shoulder. "And if not," I continued. "I'll take some snacks from Stem."

Before he could protest any longer, I shut the door and began walking towards my school. I reached the walnut coloured building by 6:35am. School started at seven o'clock.

I stared at the door, thinking.

 _What **if** I got him for a teacher? What if the prank failed? How would he react to it?_ Concern started to spread across my face. _There's just one out of three chances of getting him... But what **if**? _ The thought just kept coming back to me.

"Quite a beautiful door. Isn't it?" a voice whispered behind me, snapping me out of my daze. I quickly spun around.

"Stem Man! How's it going!" I cried happily once I saw who it was. I slapped my buddy on the back. "Long time no see!"

"Hm," Stem replied. I could see his jade eyes bore into mine as spoke. "So are you going in or not?" he asked with a serious expression.

My smile faded. He usually wasn't like this.

"Are… are you okay?" I asked hesitantly. I stared back into his unusually cold eyes.

Unexpectedly, his hand shot out and grabbed my shirt. My eyes widened in horror and he raised his other hand, about to punch me.

"Stem, what are you—"

I was abruptly thrown down to the ground and laughter rang my ears. The old Stem was back.

"You should have seen your face!" my friend exclaimed, laughing hysterically. "Scared you much?"

It took me a moment to realize what had just happened. I quickly pushed myself off the ground.

"Did not!" I argued. I was pretty embarrassed for falling for his trick. "I just decided to humour you. That's all."

"Right, right," Stem said, casually waving it off. I just stared at him.

It was funny that his name was Stem because, indeed, he seemed to resemble a stem. He was a few inches (okay, maybe a bit more) taller than me and extremely slim. His straight brown hair was brushed forwards, and he wore a plain green t-shirt and jeans.

"Let's go see whether or not we get _him_ ," I said as I pushed open the school door, followed by my friend. Stem nodded, understanding that by ' _him'_ I was referring to Mr. Shinji.

It turned out that Stem and I were not even in the same section! And guess what was worse? _I_ was the one who got stuck with Mr. Shinji as my homeroom teacher! Yes, I know how I was bragging about not being scared of him and all earlier, but without Stem in my class... Well, things just got a bit complicated. A criminal always needed a partner in crime. The same thing applied to a prankster. Especially for someone like me. Not that I was weak or anything.

My thoughts lingered back to my teacher.

"May I have your attention please?" A voice called out over the chatter of the many children looking at the papers stuck around the gym to see which class they were in.

Wow, I hadn't realized how crowded it had gotten already. 6:56am, I read on my wrist-watch. I turned around to see that the voice belonged to an old lady who was wearing all black. Her blond hair was smooth, long and went over her shoulder and down up to her waist. She had slight wrinkles beside her eyes. She clapped her hands loudly. Soon, everyone had silenced down and turned around to see what the old lady wanted.

"I know you are all excited to start the new year. But right now, I would like you all to go to the room number written on the top of each paper you see before you. This will be you homeroom classroom. School maps are on the table just by the doors of the gym. Thank you."

I looked at Stem. My friend solemnly nodded and put his hand on my shoulder.

"I suppose this is where we part," he said with a cracked voice. He pretended to wipe away tears. "Farewell my dear old friend!" He turned around, and with a last dramatic wave, he headed out the doors, grabbing a school map on his way. I just stared. When did he become such a great actor?

I started heading out the doors myself. I looked at the school map I had grabbed.

 _Okay. Where to find room 106?_

I was wandering around in the halls when I bumped into someone. I took a step back and got a good look at her. She was beaming like it was the best day ever or something, and her blue eyes were shining. Her midnight blue hair was tied back with a pink ribbon and she was wearing a rather frilly pink blouse along with skinny jeans.

"Hello! My name is Angelica Bella. People call me just Angelica or just Bella or Angie or something like that for short. You can call me any one of those, though I prefer Angelica!" the girl said, introducing herself in a rather bubbly way.

I blinked. _Um, okay then?_

I continued walking, and, annoyingly enough, she started following me.

"You have a map so you must be new," she continued. "I'm new too. Though I've been to the school before. I know it very well so I don't need a map. It's my first day to actually be old enough to _be_ in this school, since it's a middle school and all. Isn't that exciting?" She didn't wait for my reply. "But the thing is, I don't really _know_ anyone here except for some of the teachers, and, of course, the principal.

"Hey! Since we're both new and all, how 'bout we stick together? I'm sure we'll be great friends by the end of the year! Ooh, this year's gonna by the best now that I have a friend! Then maybe we could increase our friendship group and have more kids join our group and it's gonna be really fun!"

 _Did this girl ever stop talking? And since when did I agree on this sudden 'friendship'?_

"Say, which class are you heading to?" she asked suddenly.

I looked up.

"Wha— Oh. Room 106," I replied, hoping she would go away. After all, she probably needed to get to her own class, right?

"What a coincidence!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

 _Uh-oh. Please don't tell me—_

 _"_ I'm going to that class _too_!" she shouted in delight. "Isn't that great? I can't believe we're in the same section!"

I resisted the urge to face-palm. _Yup. I can't believe we're in the same section either._

Angelica kept talking and talking all the way until we reached the classroom. I sighed in relief when we entered the brightly lit room. Let's just hope that things don't get any worse.

* * *

 **And done! Did you like it? Should I continue? Please let me know your opinion of the story in your reviews. Good bye for now and have a good day!**


	2. A Heartless Hedgehog and a Plan

**Hello everyone! I am here with the second chapter! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: A Heartless Hedgehog and a Plan**

"Mr. _Shinji_?" asked my father once I told him whom I got for my homeroom teacher. "As in _Paul_ Shinji?!"

"How am I supposed to know his first name?" I replied in annoyance.

He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at me in the eye.

"Gary Junior," he said. "If it turned out to be Paul Shinji, then that would be ridiculously hilarious!"

"Who is this Paul Shinji anyways?" I asked, crossing my arms. I was ignored.

"I mean, if Paul actually ended up going in education. Hah! _Paul? In education?_ " My father started to laugh. "Oh wow. Hey, when's meet the teacher day at your school?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Uhh.. I dunno," I replied, hoping he would never figure out that he could have an appointment booked with any teacher any time. "Um, I'm going upstairs now. Homework on the first day. Better get started!" I quickly dashed upstairs to my room.

"Sounds like something Paul would do," I heard my father mumble to himself. And then I heard no more.

I plopped onto my bed with a frustrated sigh. Mr. Shinji was not at all as I had expected. I was hoping for a teacher like _Mr_. _Snape_ from _Harry Potter_ or maybe _Filch._ But those were just fictional characters. In reality, he was just a bored looking guy in probably his mid-thirties, who would have rather been anywhere but the classroom. Very boring.

 _Flashback:_

 _I entered the classroom followed by Angelica and looked around. I had expected to find myself facing a mean looking teacher who'd start lecturing me about his classroom rules or something. But I only saw students laughing and talking, just like in a normal classroom. Was the teacher even in the room? Yes. I finally spotted him sitting at the teachers desk in the corner, rubbing his temples, as if he had a headache.  
_

 _"Good morning!" Angelica said to him sweetly, but he did not reply._

 _I took a seat at a desk at the front of the room and Angelica sat down beside me._

 _After about ten or twenty minutes later, the teacher stood up with a paper in his hands and started calling out names for attendance. He went through the list for a while until, finally, he reached me.  
_

 _"Juliet Nikki?"_

 _"Here!" called out a girl from somewhere behind me._

 _"Ga—" Mr. Shinji suddenly stopped._

 _He looked at the paper as if it were the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen. He had stopped at my name, I knew. But why my name? Was there a problem?_

 _He finally looked up._

 _"Gary Junior Oak?"_

 _"Here!" I called out. He got a good look at me before he continued on with attendance._

 _After going through all the names, he put a stack of papers in front of Angelica, telling her to pass one to each student. Once I got a paper, I realized it had a list of what I needed for class, and on the other side, there were the classroom rules. He told us to read the paper specifically "in your head". Talk about lazy. He could have just read them out to us himself._

 _Because he was our math teacher too, he wrote some stuff on the board for homework. Then, he went back to his desk looking all bored again.  
_

* * *

I stared at the ceiling. Would he even _react_ if we pranked him? I decided to phone Stem and tell him to forget about the prank.

"Hello?" Stem's brother, Root, picked up the phone.

"Hi. Is Stem there?" I asked, pacing around my room impatiently.

"One sec. I'll go look…."

"Tell him I'm not home," I heard Stem's voice say.

"Okay. Stem's not ho—"

"I HEARD YOU STEM!" I shouted in the phone, cutting Root off. (Pun not intended.)

"Darn it," I heard Stem say. "Hello?"

"Hey, Stem," I said. Before I could continue, Stem started to speak.

"Okay, listen," he said urgently. "I'm really busy right now so we'll talk at school. Don't worry, I've got a prank planned. Just leave everything to me. Got it? Bye."

"Don't I get to know what the prank is?" I exclaimed. "We were in this together!"

But my friend had already cut off.

With a groan, I plopped back onto my bed, letting the phone drop to the floor. It didn't break.

I did my homework (of last year's review), and went to sleep at nine o'clock.

* * *

My alarm woke me up, as usual. Grumpy sister. Got ready for school. Grabbed a cookie on the way out the house. And so on, and so forth. It had become a daily routine by now. I reached the school building at six forty-nine. I was halfway inside my classroom when another presence made its way beside me.

"Hi!" exclaimed Angelica cheerfully. "What a coincidence! We came at the same time!"

 _Oh great. Not her again._

"Hello, Angelica," I grumbled. She didn't seem to sense my annoyance. She followed me all the way to where we had sat last time.

"I'm so glad you're here!" she cried. "Last night, I was almost afraid you wouldn't come. Because who would've been my friend then, right? But here you are! And here I am! And now we can stay best buddies!"

She looked at me. I looked at her. She was wearing a light pink button-up sweater and a lacy white knee-length skirt. Her pink socks went up to her knees, and her hair was done in her usual pink bow. I just wore a black t-shirt and faded jeans.

"Let's get this over with," I heard the teacher mumble to himself. He stood up and took attendance. Once he was done, instead of saying anything, he just wrote some equations on the board.

"Do it," was all he said. He then sat back down.

 _What kind of teacher was this anyways?_

"Mr. Shinji?" a brunette with a red headband called out. "Aren't you going to explain how to do it?"

"You should know how to do it," he replied. "It should be last year's review."

"Oh come on!" shouted someone, and a bunch of students started yelling at the same time.

"Okay, okay!" Mr. Shinji stood up again, looking extremely annoyed. "Fine. I'll explain."

And then he explained, though he looked like he thought this was a waste of his time.

"One thing you should all remember is BEDMAS. Brackets, exponents, divide, multiply, add, and subtract. Now here, we see a five, and beside it in brackets is a sixteen, so we multiply—"

"I thought we do brackets first!" called out a boy with messy red hair. "Why are you multiplying?"

"Because when it's written like this"—the teacher pointed to 5(16)—"we multiply it."

"Say, w _haaaat_?" someone said.

Mr. Shinji ignored him. "So who can tell me what five times sixteen is?"

We all started pulling out our calculators. The teacher face-palmed.

"Do you seriously need a calculator for this?" he mumbled.

"Eighty!" I called out.

"Please raise your hand."

I raised my hand.

"Eighty!" I called out again. Mr. Shinji looked like he was about to say something, but then he let it go.

"Good." He wrote down eighty. "Now since there are no more brackets, we move on to exponents. There are two exponents: two squared, and five to the third power. We all know that two squared is four and that five to the third power is one hundred twenty-five, so— Yes?"

I noticed that Angelica had raised her hand.

"You made a mistake, Sir," she said. "Five times three is fifteen."

"Five times three and five to the third power are two completely different things!" he exclaimed exasperatedly, as if stating the obvious.

And it went on like that for the entire class time.

* * *

Break time soon approached, and I had managed to get rid of Angelica. I walked around the school, trying to locate Stem and my other friends. I spotted all three hanging out just outside the building.

"Hey, guys," I said casually, walking to where they were. "What's up?"

"Well, according to my observations, there are multiple cumulonimbus clouds up," said Tom Ato in a matter of fact tone. "And I am sure there are also many particles floating about and a great variety of—"

"I get it, I get it!" I laughed.

Unlike his father, Tom had a very serious nature and was obsessed with science. He had black hair that fell to his forehead and always wore a blue and white cap. He was wearing thin glasses over his brown eyes, and an open navy-blue jacket over a white shirt and ironed blue jeans. He was the shortest among the four of us.

Watergem, on the other hand, was a rather sarcastic, tomboyish girl. Unlike her mother's fiery orange hair, she had light blue hair tied back in a ponytail that ran down her back like a waterfall. Maybe that's why her name was Watergem. She had green eyes and was wearing a white t-shirt with a picture of a happy-face emoji, along with jean shorts and black and white cleats.

Stem was wearing his usual green t-shirt and jeans.

"So what's the plan?" I asked Stem.

Instead of replying, the boy squinted his eyes and looked past my shoulder. "Who's that?"

I turned around and groaned. Skipping towards us, as happy as usual, was Angelica, now accompanied by two other kids. One I recognized as the girl in my class with the red headband. On her shirt was written 'Be the Cool Noodle' and had a picture of a bowl of noodles wearing sunglasses.

 _Uhh. What._

The second one, I didn't recognize. He had green hair, green eyes, and was wearing an open black leather jacket over a violet-coloured shirt. His hands were shoved in his pockets in a carefree manner.

"There you are!" exclaimed Angelica, running ahead of the other two. "I was looking _everywhere_! Oh, so you made some new friends for our friendship group? What a _coincidence_!"

I was starting to hate that phrase now.

" _I_ made new friends for our friendship group _too_!"

My three _actual_ friends were all staring at me with their eyebrows raised as if waiting for an explanation. I sighed.

"Guys, this is Angelica. She's a girl in my class," I explained.

"I'm his best friend," she added with a big smile.

 _Talk about embarrassing..._

"This is Rosie," she said while gesturing to the brunette. "And this is Shu." She gestured to the green-headed boy who flipped his hair in greeting.

"What are your names?" She looked at my friends with expectant eyes.

Tom looked uncomfortable, Watergem just stared, but I saw a glint in Stem's eyes. I knew that glint too well; something was up.

"Hello Angelica!" exclaimed Stem, overly cheerful. "My name is Stem. This is Tomato and this is Water-gym!"

Watergem glared at him and Tom's face turned red. Hah. Now he _really_ looked like a tomato.

"Oh, but did you say _you_ were his best friend?" Stem continued in fake shock. "I thought _I_ was his best friend. We always hang out together."

"Oh." Angelica looked slightly downcast. Stem's smile grew wider when he saw that I was getting annoyed.

"Hey! Maybe we _both_ could be his best friends!" he said.

"Yeah!" The girl's eyes were shining again. "Ooh, this is going to be great!"

"No!" I shouted, before she could speak any further.

"Huh?"

I gritted my teeth together. _Keep it cool._ But this was getting too much….

"I've had enough of this," I said to Angelica. " _I_ don't recall agreeing that we be friends. _I_ don't recall agreeing that you follow me around everywhere I go, and pester me with all that girly talk of yours! _I_ don't recall agreeing to any of this friendship blah blah blah-ness! I already have my own friends and I'm fine with them. So stop following me and leave me alone!"

I clenched my fists. "So just leave me alone."

There was a stunned silence. And there was Angelica, her eyes shining. Not with happiness, but with hurt.

"You—" she choked out, fighting back tears. "You— I thought you were my friend!"

Silence followed.

"You—" And then her tears poured out, quite like a waterfall. "How could you?! After all I've done. I thought you— You betrayed me! You treated me like I was all a joke, like I didn't matter! You—"

 _Okay, now she was so overreacting._

"You're a betrayer!" she cried. "You're a meanie! You're a heartless… a heartless hedgehog! That's what you are! You're unbelievable!"

I just stood there stiffly.

 _A heartless hedgehog? But my hair wasn't even spiky…. How could she call me a heartless **hedgehog**? _

"I'm done being friends with you!" she shouted. Then she turned away and ran off.

"Angelica! Wait!" cried Rosie. Casting a glance at me, she ran off after the girl.

We all looked at Shu, who was left standing there. He shrugged a carefree shrug. Then, after another flip of his hair, he just walked off.

Watergem blinked. " _Okay_ then," she said.

"Stem Man does it again," muttered Stem.

I blinked. Guilt washed over me. I didn't think Angelica would get so upset. _What have I done?_

"Hey, aren't you gonna ask me what I mean?" Stem asked me. "Gary Junior?"

I turned away.

 _And she called me a heartless **hedgehog**. Was all that hair gel just a waste? My hair wasn't spiky. It was never meant to be. But she was just saying as she saw it, wasn't she? Did that mean my hair looked like a hedgehog?_

" _Hello?_ Earth to Gary Junior!" Watergem waved her hand in front of me.

"Do you want me to tell you the plan for the prank?" asked Stem when I didn't respond.

"Sure," I said. But I didn't pay attention to a _word_ my buddy said.

I felt my hair with my hand. _It didn't **feel** spiky…._

"So yeah. That's the plan," Stem concluded. "Genius, huh?"

"Uh, right," I replied distractedly.

Stem laughed. "I didn't even _say_ the plan! I just said random words and you—"

The bell rang, signalling the end of break time.

"I'm going to class. Bye," I said. And without waiting for a reply, I headed off.

"What's up with him?" I heard Watergem ask. Tom said something in reply, but I didn't hear what.

I didn't have any other classes today with Angelica, so I managed. It sure had been a busy day today at school.

* * *

 **And done! Wow, that took longer to write than I had expected! I hope you enjoyed it. R &R and have a great day! **


	3. Prank

**Hello everyone! I am here with chapter three! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Prank**

"My hair doesn't look like a hedgehog," I grumbled to myself. School had finished, and I had just reached home. I started heading upstairs to my room. "That girl doesn't know what she's talking about. How could she have said that? Hasn't she heard of feelings? I'm not a heartless h—"

"Hahahahahaha!" My sister's laughter rang from downstairs. "No way! She said _what_?"

I stopped mid-step.

 _Who's she talking to?_

"Ohh! Really? I can't believe my brother said that! Poor girl. What did you say her name was? Angeli? Oh, Angelica!"

I rushed back downstairs. My sister was lying upside-down on the living room sofa.

"A heartless hedgehog?" she cried into the phone. "Hah! That probably _crushed_ Ga—"

"Daisalyn!" I shouted. "Who are you talking to?"

"Root," she simply replied. "Oh, really?" she said back in the phone.

I clenched my jaw. Of course she was talking to Root. The two were just as good friends as Stem and I were. But wait… If Stem told his brother about what happened today… wouldn't that mean Root would tell—

"Oh, my brother puts on tons of hair gel," Daisalyn said. "And you won't believe where he gets it!"

"Daisalyn! No!" I cried, realizing what she was about to say. I made a grab for the phone, missed, but managed to get my sister to drop it. If she told _that_ to Root, then he would tell Stem. That wouldn't be so cool.

"GJ!" my sister scolded. She sometimes calls me that for short. It also stands for gigajoule, she had once told to me. Beats me what that is.

I grabbed the phone and tried to press the off button, but she grabbed my wrist, making the phone fall again. We both made a dive for it.

"Uh, hello?" I heard Root say from the other end.

"Gary Junior! It's me!" I heard Stem shout. I got the phone before Daisalyn.

"Stem!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Give it back!" Daisalyn cried at me the same time as Root yelled at Stem.

I ran off as fast as I could away from her, all the way to my room.

"S-Stem," I repeated, trying to catch my breath. I could still hear Root yelling at Stem for stealing the phone from him. Eventually, he seemed to have given up.

"Hey Gary Junior," said Stem.

My face suddenly turned into a scowl.

"Stem! Why in the world did you tell your brother what happened today!" I shouted accusingly. "You _knew_ he would go off telling my sister! Why did you—"

"Hey, hey calm down! Calm _down_!" Stem exclaimed. "I was just getting you back!"

"Getting me back for _what_? What did I ever do to you?" I cried incredulously.

"One, for avoiding me for the rest of the school day after the incident," he said.

"I wasn't avoiding—"

"Two," Stem interrupted sharply. "For not picking up when I called. I tried at least four times already and—"

"For you information, I just got home from school," I snapped.

"Really?" My friend sounded surprised. "Why so late?"

I sighed. "I was just… Well, thinking," I replied.

"Gary Junior, this isn't about what Angelica said to you, is it?"

"What?! O-of course not!"

Stem sighed. "Listen, man, you are _not_ a heartless hedgehog, and you don't look like one. So quit making it such a big deal and move on!"

"Really?" I was starting to feel a little better now.

"Yeah," he replied. "Wait. You were _actually_ upset because the girl called you a heartless hedgehog?" The boy burst out laughing. " _Seriously?!_ "

"Stem!" I exclaimed, embarrassed.

"Now _that_ ," said Stem, laughing, "is _hilarious_!"

"Bye," I said, and was just about to click the off button.

"Wait!" Stem cried suddenly. I stopped. "Where _do_ you get your hair gel? I could hear your sister saying something about that when she was talking to my brother."

"None of your business," I replied. And before he could say any more, I turned off the phone.

* * *

I had just entered the school building the next day, when I was stopped by Stem.

"I have a question for you," he said. "Mr. Shinji is also your math teacher, right?"

"Yeah," I replied, slightly confused.

"When is your math class?"

"First class. Right after homeroom."

"Perfect," Stem said to himself with a small, mischievous smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"Like I said, leave the prank to me." Saying that, he just walked off.

I blinked. Then I started heading to my class. The classroom was almost full by the time I got there, and I saw Angelica sitting at her usual spot, beside mine. I didn't want to sit next to her. Not today. Not ever. I decided to go find a new spot.

"Hey! That's my spot!" exclaimed a kid with big glasses and mop-like brown hair, when I sat down at a table near the middle of the room. I got up and headed towards the back of the classroom. Before I could even find a seat, a big kid blocked my way.

"This zone's only for tough guys," he said, punching his fist in his palm.

"And girls," added a pink haired girl.

"I'm tough," I said.

"Wanna fight?" Another guy got up, cracking his knuckles.

"Alright! Alright!" I raised my hands for surrender. "Sheesh," I added, walking away.

Guess I had no other choice but to sit at my old spot. Beside Little Miss Chatter-Box. I sat beside her, and she turned her head away.

"Don't think I'll forgive you easily," Angelica said. "I still think you're a meanie, you know. The things you said to me were not very nice, so you better apologize because it's the right thing to do."

I shrugged and turned my head away too.

"And when I said our friendship is done, I meant it," she continued. "So now I'm not talking to you anymore. I know I was very nice to you at first, but now, because you were not nice to me, I don't accept you as my friend anymore. So unless you apologize—"

She turned her head and looked at me. "Are you even listening to me?" she asked.

"No," I replied.

She crossed her arms. "Fine!" she huffed. "See if I care! And I'm still not talking to—"

Angelica suddenly squeezed her lips shut.

 _Much better._

Neither of us talked to each other for the rest of homeroom. The teacher took attendance, and finally, math class started. Everything was going smoothly until there was a knock on the door. Another teacher entered the room, bringing along with her none other than Stem.

" _Please_ Mrs. K! _Not_ _Mr. Shinji_!" Stem cried dramatically. "I'm _scared_ to _death_ by him! He's _so scary_!"

"Then he will keep you disciplined," she replied. To Mr. Shinji she said, "Excuse me, but this young man has been misbehaving. Do you mind if I keep him in your class? I have given him his work."

Mr. Shinji gave a nod and gestured to a spare desk at the front of the room.

When the teachers weren't looking, Stem gave me a secret wink. Then he handed his own teacher a folded paper.

"What's this?" she asked.

"The invitation to my funeral," my buddy replied. "I may die of terror in here, so I might as well stay prepared, right?"

His teacher didn't reply. Instead, she opened the folded paper. I could _just_ see what was on the other side through the sheet.

 _'R. I. P. The stem that never got its flower'_ was written in black marker, and it had a drawing of a withered flower stem. The teacher had a stern expression, but I could see the amusement in her eyes. She folded the paper back and put it in her pocket.

"I hope it's no trouble Mr. Shinji," she said to my teacher.

"No. Not at all," he replied.

 _Okay. That sounded forced._

"Thank you very much." With that, she left the classroom. Stem placed the pile of work in his hands onto the spare desk and took a seat.

"Now as I was saying…" Mr. Shinji continued speaking.

I kept my eyes on Stem. He turned around to make sure I was looking, then, quietly, he pulled out a slim, black device from his pocket: a walkie-talkie. Carefully he turned it on, and slipped it under a group of papers in a nearby recycle bin. He patted his other pocket to show me that he had his other walkie-talkie with him. He gave a wink to someone beside me. I turned around, noticing Angelica giving him a glare. The rest happened pretty quickly.

"So graphing a linear relation is basically making a straight line," Mr. Shinji explained bluntly.

"Mr. Shinji! Mr. Shinji!" Stem shouted all of a sudden, waving his arm in the air. My teacher ignored him.

"Do pages 15 to 16 in your workbooks, use a ruler and—"

"MR. SHINJI!" shouted Stem, now on his feet. "OVER HERE! MR. SHINJI!"

" _What?_ " the teacher snapped irritably.

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"No." He turned back to the class.

"But I have to go really, really badly! And if I don't go, then—"

"I don't need details," said Mr. Shinji. "Just _go_."

"Thank you!" Stem ran out of the classroom, looking like he was trying not to burst out laughing. There were a few snickers.

"So use a ruler," continued the teacher. "And if you are not done, it's homework." He went back to his desk and we all started pulling out our workbooks.

After a few minutes of working, an unexpected voice suddenly rang out in the classroom.

"Oh Mr. Shinji!" a Tweety Bird like voice sang loud and clear. "Paul! How are you my dear fella'?"

 _Paul. Why did that name sound familiar?_

Murmurs broke out in the class.

"Who said that?" someone asked.

"I dunno. Who's Paul?" someone else said.

"I think that's Mr. Shinji's first name," a girl replied.

"He has a first name?"

"Silence!" Mr. Shinji yelled loudly, causing everyone to quiet down. Who knew he was capable of such harshness?

"And stay quiet," he added strictly. He walked out of classroom and the voice continued saying random nonsense.

You think we stayed quiet? Think again.

"It was that friend of yours, wasn't it?" Angelica said to me, disapprovingly. "This was all planned! I knew it! What a not nice thing to do to a teacher! You two should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Hey, I'm not involved in this!" I cried back. Though, admittedly, I _did_ find it pretty funny.

"Oh my, my, my!" said the voice. "I have been caught by the—" it was cut off.

 _Busted._

I looked outside the classroom window and saw Mr. Shinji dragging Stem by the arm to the office. Stem seemed to really be enjoying himself.

 _I can't let him have all the fun!_ I thought to myself. _I thought we were supposed to be at this together!_

I ran up to the teacher's desk and pulled open the drawer. I grabbed a small bottle of liquid white-out and ran out the door.

"You are _not_ —" Angelica followed me out and grabbed my arm.

"Angelica! Don't get involved in this!" cried Rosie. She herself ran out and tried pulling Angelica back.

Shu just strolled out of the classroom to watch the commotion.

 _The nerve of him… Wait. He was in our class?_

"Let go of me!" Angelica shouted at Rosie. She broke free and tried snatching the white-out out of my hands. We had an intense tug-a-war, and unfortunately, the cap of the bottle was loose. Guessed what happened?

Before we knew it, both of us were covered in a white, icky mess.

"My shirt!" gasped Angelica looking at her pink and blue flower printed yellow t-shirt and blue knee-length skirt, now covered in white-out. Hah. She even had some on her ribbon-tied hair.

Wait. If she had some in _her_ hair…

"My hair!" we both shouted together.

 _Ugh. Why did **she** have to say it at the same time? She made it sound so girly._

I felt my hair, and when I looked at my hand, sure enough, there was white-out on it.

"Gary Junior!" I turned around and saw Tom Ato and Watergem running towards me.

 _Where did they come from?_

"Whoa!" Just then, Tom Ato slipped on some white-out that was spilled on the ground and crash-landed into me. That caused me to fall and I crash-landed onto Angelica, who fell onto Rosie, who would have fallen onto Shu, but Shu stepped out of the way.

"Oof!" And we all fell in a heap onto the ground.

Shu took out his iPod and took a picture, while Watergem just stood there, looking surprised.

"TO THE OFFICE! ALL OF YOU!"

We all looked up. There, standing above us, was the old lady I recognized from the first day of school, long blond hair, wearing all black.

"Principal Cynthia," Angelica whispered.

* * *

I slightly swung my feet as I sat on a seat in the office. All six of us were seated in a row, waiting for the principal, who had gone inside one of the many rooms.

"Sooo, I guess we're done for." Watergem broke the silence.

"This isn't even my fault," Angelica said in a small voice. "I was just trying to do what's right, but then you—"

She turned to me.

"It's not all _my_ fault," I said. "You were the one who tried to snatch it from my hand."

"And Shu," Rosie turned to look at the green-headed boy. "When did you get here?"

The boy shrugged. No surprise there.

"Okay, bad question," said Rosie. " _Why_ are you here? And don't you shrug in reply!"

Shu smirked and then flipped his hair, causing the girl to roll her eyes exasperatedly.

"So what are you guys doing here?" I asked, directing my attention to Watergem and Tom Ato. "You guys aren't even in my class."

"Well, our teacher saw Mr. Shinji dragging Stem, who she had sent out, so she wanted someone to go ask what happened," explained Tom. "So I volunteered."

"And I just asked if I could go to the bathroom." Watergem laughed. "The trick always works."

Meanwhile, Rosie had gotten into an argument with Shu.

"Talk!" she shouted at him.

Just then, Principal Cynthia came back, followed by Stem. She looked more calm now.

Stem took a seat beside me, at the end of the row of chairs.

"So," said the principal, clasping her hands together. "Who volunteers to explain what this is all about?"

"Shu volunteers!" Rosie called out, casting Shu a triumphant look.

"Very well," said Cynthia. "So Shu, would you mind explaining?"

That wiped away the boy's smirk.

"Uh," he said, looking at the woman. He gave a small shrug. But it wasn't his usual carefree shrug.

"Well?"

Shu looked around, then back at the principal. He opened his mouth like he was about to speak, but then Angelica interrupted.

"I can explain with every detail, Principal Cynthia," she said. "You see, Stem was misbehaving in his class, so he was sent to our class but then he played a very bad prank on Mr. Shinji. I can tell you the prank. So—"

"Mr. Shinji has already informed me of the prank and Stem and I have already had a talk," Cynthia cast a glance at Stem. She turned back to Angelica. "I would like to know what happened _after_ your teacher left the classroom."

Angelica nodded understandingly. "So then _he_ ," she pointed at me (Did she even know my name?), " _he_ started going through Mr. Shinji's desk drawer and that's very bad, right? I knew he was up no good. I know him very well and he's not a very nice person, you know."

 _Yeah right._

"He's a troublemaker," continued the girl. "And then he pulled out Mr. Shinji's white-out and ran out the classroom like he thought I wouldn't see him. But then I saw him. I know theft is a very bad thing, Principal Cynthia. I tried to stop him, but then he put the white-out on me!"

"I didn't put white-out on her!" I interrupted. "She started snatching the white-out from my hands and the white-out exploded! It was her own stupidity that—"

"The white-out did _not_ explode!" cried Rosie. "You just pulled it too hard and it opened!"

" _I_ did not—"

"Stop!" exclaimed the principal, raising her hand for silence. "Angelica was speaking first. Let her continue; no interrupting."

I scowled. I had not taken the white-out with intentions of theft. I was planning on, well, I don't know, spilling some on Mr. Shinji or something.

"He put white-out on me," Angelica repeated. "And then I got in trouble for nothing."

Principal Cynthia raised her eyebrows.

"That's it?" she asked. Angelica nodded.

"But what about the other four? I will let somebody else speak now."

Rosie raised her hand. "I tried to stop Angelica because I didn't want her to get involved. I mean, if the boy got in trouble, it was his own fault, not hers," she said. "I don't know _when Shu_ got here, but the other two just came running out of nowhere and slipped, causing all of us to fall onto the white-out. Except Shu," she added at the end.

Shu flipped his hair.

"And me," added Watergem.

"Well that explains why you are all covered in white-out," said the principal. "Thank you for explaining, Rosie and Angelica. Please wait here quietly for a moment." She headed back to one of the rooms in the office.

"So where's Mr. Shinji?" Tom asked Stem.

"Probably went back to the classroom," he replied with a shrug.

"I was _so close_ to getting you to talk!" Rosie exclaimed at Shu. The boy smirk and flipped his hair (yes, _again)_ in reply.

"Hey, Stem," I said suddenly. "How exactly did you know Mr. Shinji's first name?"

"Root's Instagram," Stem replied with a half smile. "Remember a few days ago when you called and I said that I was busy and to leave the prank to me? That was what I was doing. It was the same Mr. Shinji alright. It said 'Paul Shinji, teacher at Oak View Middle School', same city and all. Though he didn't post anything."

I mimicked his expression. "Does Root know that you were on his In—"

"Nope! And he'll never find out!"

Stem and I laughed. Pretty soon, Principal Cynthia returned, now with seven envelopes in her hand. She handed one to each of us.

"I want each of you to give this to your parents. You should be thankful that you are not suspended."

"I don't like this old lady," I whispered to Stem.

"Sixty is not that old, really," she said with a small smile.

I guess she heard me. _Whoops_.

"Now you may all go back to your classes. And no more trouble-making. Understand?"

We all stood up and started heading back to class. I clutched the envelope in my hand.

 _Boy. Don't I have something to look forward to! Not._

* * *

 **Chapter three, complete! Well that was fun to write! Stay tuned for the next chapter. R &R and have a great day!  
**


	4. Parent-Teacher Reunion

**Hello everyone! I am here with chapter four! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Parent-Teacher Reunion**

"Did you show your dad the letter yet?" asked Stem over the phone.

"Yeah." I sighed. "I don't _what_ the letter said, but when he opened the envelope from Cynthia, he got all happy and started saying something about a reunion."

"You too?" exclaimed Stem. "That's exactly what happened with my mom! I mean, isn't she supposed to get angry that I got in trouble? I guess not."

I shook my head in disbelief. " _Weird_ ," I murmured. "I wonder what this is all about."

"Yeah," said Stem. "I also talked with Watergem and she said that her mom gave a small smile to herself, then started yelling at her for getting in trouble on just the third day of school. I'm planning on calling Tom Ato next."

"Wait!" I cried suddenly. "I think I remember where I heard the name Paul!"

"You mean from me?"

"No, before that. When you said Paul at first, it sounded so familiar. Now I remember that my dad asked me if Mr. Shinji's first name was Paul on the first day. You don't think this has anything to do with Mr. Shinji, do you?"

"Could be. But I still don't get why _you_ guys got in trouble. You didn't do anything wrong, did you?"

"Well _I_ was going to, except then that annoying Angelica girl tried to stop me and we got into a white-out mess. And the white-out took _forever_ to get out of my ha—"

"Gary Junior, come here please," I heard my father call out from downstairs.

"Okay, gotta go now," I said to Stem. "Bye."

I turned off the phone and headed downstairs. My father was waiting on the sofa.

"You seem rather confused about all this letter stuff," he said. "So I have decided to enlighten your little brain a bit."

He handed me the letter. "Read it."

And so I did.

 **Dear Parent or Guardian,** it read. ** Due to the school's policy, whenever a child misbehaves, the parent or guardian has a meeting with the teacher with whom the child has misbehaved, and the principal. Please meet**—there was a dash on which in handwriting was written, _Teacher: Mr. Paul Shinji, Principal: Mrs. Cynthia Shirona —_ **at the office at** —and then there was another dash on which in handwriting was written, _Thursday, September 8th. 8:30 am—_ **Thank you.**

 **Yours sincerely,**

 **Cynthia,** **p** **rincipal.  
**

I finished reading and looked up to see my father smiling.

 _Well that was a short letter._

"Now you listen to this, kid," he said. "Back when I was in high school, I used to spend my time with three boys. One of them was, you know Tom Ato's father?"

"You mean Ashy-Boy?"

"Don't call him that! You're just a kid!" my father scolded. "Only I get to call him that!"

I'm not sure whether or not that was meant to be a joke.

"Well, anyways. Where was I? Oh yeah." My father continued speaking. "So one of them was Tom's father, Ash. The other, you probably will never know, but one—an antisocial, fun to make fun of guy named Paul—he may be that Mr. Shinji of yours. I mean, Shinji is not a very common name here, is it? And his first name is Paul. So if we have a parent-teacher meeting, we would basically be having a reunion! You get what I mean?"

"Okay," I said slowly.

I didn't like where this was going.

"And that," said my father in a final sort of way, "is why I am so happy. Understand now?"

I stood there.

 _This is bad._

"I'm going upstairs now," I said, and, before he could reply, I dashed back to my room. I knew he was not expecting that.

"At least give me back the letter!" he protested from downstairs.

I sat down on my bed and re-read the letter a few times. If they had a reunion, that may lead to rather… It cannot be explained with words.

I had to call Stem. _Now._

I looked around for the phone.

 _It was just here a minute ago. Where did it go?_

I walked out of my room and groaned. There sat Daisalyn in her room, talking on the phone with one of her friends.

"Daisalyn! I need the phone!" I exclaimed frustratedly. " _Now_."

My sister made a shooing gesture with her hand and continued talking. With an annoyed sigh, I headed back to my room and made a paper airplane with the letter. I aimed it at the window, but the window was closed. With a crumpled front, the thing fell to the ground. I left it there.

 _Guess I have to wait until tomorrow…._

* * *

I walked with my hands shoved into my jeans pockets. My backpack was slung upon my back, matching my black t-shirt. When I reached the school building, I was not really expecting Stem to be waiting for me beside the entrance door, but he was.

"Meet me here at this exact spot as soon as break time begins. Got it?" Stem said seriously. "I will say no more."

I blinked.

"Uh, _okay_?" I said passing him.

I entered my homeroom classroom. Angelica was sitting at her usual spot, but this time, she didn't say anything. She simply turned her head away when I sat at my seat beside her. I guess she kept her word about not talking to me. Classes went by normally, nothing out of the usual. Then finally, break time approached.

I walked outside to where Stem had told me to meet him. I stopped.

There stood a group of people all waiting for me. Actually, they were all people I knew. Stem, Watergem, Tom Ato, Angelica, Rosie and Shu.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting for, like, five minutes already!" complained Watergem. She took a bite of the cookie in her hand.

It took me a moment to realize that Stem and Tom were also holding cookies.

"Hey, where did you get those cookies from?" I asked.

"Mrs. K can be really nice, y'know," Stem replied with a shrug. "She baked them at home for our class since we were so good the last few days."

 _And I got stuck with Mr. Shinji._

"She even has a restaurant," added Tom. "And not only is she good at baking cookies, she can also cook!"

"Since when have _you_ tried her foods?" Watergem asked, giving Tom a curious look.

"Uh—"

"Never mind that. Let's get to the point!" interrupted Stem. "The reason I told you all to be here is because, well, it has to do with the letter that each of us got sent home."

"My mom said that it's _good_ that I tried to stop him from doing bad," interrupted Angelica. "She said that I did the right thing and that it's not my fault that I got in trouble for nothing."

"Why did you invite _her_?" I hissed to Stem.

"Everyone who got the letter has the right to be part of this discussion," replied Stem. "Whether you get along with each other or _not_."

He cast a glance at me and Angelica. All seven of us got into a huddle.

"Okay, so I have a question for you guys, Angelica, Shu, and Rosie," continued Stem. "Did any of your parents _also_ get all happy or act strange when they read the letter?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rosie in surprise. "My mom. You mean that I'm not the only one?"

"Well my mom got a big smile on her face," said Angelica hesitantly. "But I think it was probably because I told her how I did the right thing. Though she _was_ reading the letter at the same time. I don't know what the letter said, though. My mom just said that she just had to have a parent-teacher meeting or something. But—"

"Shu?" Stem interrupted, casting a glance at Shu.

Shu gave a nod in reply.

"Alright!" said Stem. "The same thing goes for Watergem, Tom, Gary Junior, and me. And there's a possibility that it had something to do with the fact that Mr. Shinji is involved."

"Yeah," I added. "My dad let me read the letter and he also told me that he used to be friends with who could possibly be Mr. Shinji. He said the parent-teacher meeting would be like a reunion."

"You talking 'bout Mr. Shinji?"

All of us turned our heads. Some random guy had just popped his head in between our huddle and moved his eyes from one person to another. He looked like he was in the eighth grade.

"Are you related to Mr. Shinji?" Angelica asked suspiciously, noting his purple hair.

"Me? Related to Mr. Shinji?" the random guy exclaimed as it were the craziest thing he had ever heard. "Pfffft, of course not! I'm not related to _him_!" The guy laughed. "Oh, I forgot how little sixth graders are," he said. "I just like to hear stuff about him. Y'know, 'cause Mr. Shinji is _so_ funny."

He laughed at his own joke. We all just stared at him.

"Call me Sal, by the way," he added.

"That's your name?" asked Rosie.

"No," 'Sal' replied. "But it goes with the word hello. Y'know, like when you say 'hello Sal', it sounds kinda casual. And I'm kinda a casual guy. So anyways, what were you saying about Mr. Shinji?"

He turned his head back to me.

"Uh, what _was_ I saying?" I turned to look at Stem.

"So it all most likely has something to do with him," said Stem, ignoring my question. "Hey, do you guys think _all_ our parents were childhood friends? I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but I somehow get the feeling that Cynthia sent the letter to all of our parents on purpose. What if Cynthia _knew_ our parents when they were young and found this a good opportunity to get them to re-meet?"

"Stop thinking ahead of yourself," said Watergem. "That would be ridiculous."

"Yeah," I grumbled, making a face, casting Angelica a glance. She glared at me in return.

"Ooh. This is starting to get interesting," said Sal, his black eyes shining with interest. "Did you know that Mr. Shinji knew principal Cynthia ever since he was _ten_?"

"Really?"

We all turned to look at the boy. I couldn't even _imagine_ a ten year old Mr. Shinji. Sal nodded.

"How do you know?" asked Watergem.

"Oh I know this stuff," the boy replied. "By grade eight, you know pretty much everything you need to know about teachers in middle school."

Made sense.

"What else do you know about Mr. Shinji?" I asked. Excitement spread across my face.

"Lots," replied Sal. "I even know where he lives."

We broke our huddle and all stared at him in disbelief.

"No way," said Rosie.

"It's true," he said. "And I know which car he owns and I even know his kid. Oh, his kid is the coolest."

"Does your family know him as a family friend or something?" asked Tom with his eyebrows raised.

"Not exactly," said Sal with a small smile. "You know what else?" He looked around at us dramatically. Then he whispered, "Mr. Shinji loves orange juice!"

Angelica gasped and placed her hand on mouth. Shu shook his head in disbelief. Rosie and Watergem stared with their mouths dropped open while Stem, Tom, and I just stared.

"Always the same reactions," Sal said, laughing.

We stood silently for a moment, and then the bell rang, signalling the end of break.

"Well," said Sal. "Nice meeting you all! Bye!"

He turned and walked away, probably to enter the school building from another door.

The seven of us looked at one another.

"Well, bye," said Watergem. She and Tom headed back into the building, followed by Stem.

The rest of us went back into the building too, heading to our own classes.

* * *

Thursday had arrived, and I sat stiffly on my seat in my math class. I couldn't pay attention. Today was the day. The day of the parent-teacher meeting. I glanced at the clock, which read seven-thirty. Just one hour left until the meeting.

Time. Passed. By. So. So. So. Slowly... And then the bell rang.

Eight o'clock. Another thirty minutes to wait.

It was art class now, and the art teacher was explaining something about blending pastels. It took my mind off of the meeting for a while, until another person entered the room. I recognized her as the school secretary. She walked up to my teacher and said something quietly to her. When my teacher nodded in response, the secretary walked up to me and told me to follow her. Then she looked at someone at the back of the room and beckoned him to come too. Shu got up and walked up to her.

 _What the— How come I never knew he was in this class too?!_

We both followed her out of the classroom. At first, I was confused, but then I remembered the meeting. So then _we_ were invited to the meeting too?

We stopped at a few classes and pretty soon, all seven of us who had gotten the letter were following the lady to the office.

I glanced up at the clock and found that the time was 8:38.

The lady led us to a room somewhere in the office, and when we walked in, she left, closing the door on her way out.

I looked around. The room was filled with adults, sitting on the sofas and chairs. Our parents, to be specific, and Principal Cynthia. Mr. Shinji was there too.

"We've been expecting you," a woman's voice said (somewhat creepily, might I add). I recognized her as Stem's mom.

My dad turned and raised his eyebrows at her.

"What? I've always wanted to say that," she said with a laugh.

"Why don't you kids take a seat?" Principal Cynthia said to us, gesturing to a row of empty chairs. We did as we were told. I sat at the end nearest to the door, Stem sat beside me, then sat Angelica, Rosie, Shu, Tom Ato, and finally, Watergem.

The entire room was silent.

I noticed Watergem poke Tom on the shoulder and whisper something to him, and in response, he pulled out his notebook and pen and handed it to her. She flipped to an empty page, wrote down something, and handed it back to Tom. After reading whatever she had written, Tom nodded and handed the book to Shu beside him. Shu took a small pencil out of his pocket and added something to the paper. After a flip of his hair, he passed the book to Rosie. Rosie read whatever it was on it and passed it to Angelica. Angelica gestured to Shu for his pencil, and once he gave it to her, she started adding something to the paper. After about ten seconds, Stem glanced at the paper, and just snatched it out of Angelica's hand.

"Hey!" cried Angelica angrily. "I was not done yet!"

"Stem. That's not nice. Give it back to her," Stem's mom said sternly. Turned out the adults were watching the scene.

"But—" Stem pointed at Angelica. I got a glance at the notebook.

 _This is awkward._ It said in pen in Watergem's writing. _Yup_. Was added underneath in pencil. I figured Shu probably wrote that. Then in pencil, there were a bunch of hearts and flowers drawn around the page. Probably made by Angelica.

"No buts," his mom said.

"Aww, it's okay," another woman interrupted. "They're just kids."

I noticed that the woman had long midnight blue hair. Maybe Angelica's mother?

"But Dawn," Stem's mom said, looking a bit exasperated. "They need to learn how to behave!"

"Hey, now isn't this supposed to be a formal meeting?" a green-haired man added. He flipped his hair.

"Oh come on, Drew," a brown-haired woman said. "After so many years, you _still_ flip your hair?"

"I bet it would wipe that incredulous look off your face when you hear that I have my own famous company," said the guy called Drew. "Hear that, May?"

"Really?" asked Tom's father. "Wow, Drew, I never knew. That's actually pretty cool!"

Mr. Shinji smirked unexpectedly.

"What's so funny?" demanded Tom's father (I'll just call him Ashy-boy), looking annoyed at Mr. Shinji.

"You still act like a kid," my teacher simply replied.

"Same old Paul," Ashy-boy grumbled, shaking his head.

I glanced over at Principal Cynthia. She just sat there looking amused.

"Hey, maybe you were right about the principal," I whispered to Stem. "Just look at her." **  
**

"Gary Junior. Why don't you tell us what you're whispering about," my dad said suddenly, turning to me.

"I still can't believe you named him after _yourself_ ," said Watergem's mom.

"Got a problem with that?" my dad replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, Drew," said Stem's mom. "Which, exactly, is the company that you own?"

"Oh just a famous company," replied the guy called Drew.

"He owns a company called 'Drew's Roses' and it sells shampoos," Shu said suddenly, smirking.

"You talked!" exclaimed Rosie.

"You have a soft voice," I pointed out. Either he didn't hear me, or Shu just ignored me.

My dad and Ashy-boy snickered. Mr. Shinji rolled his eyes.

"Typical," the brown-haired woman said to herself. I figured that maybe she was Rosie's mom.

The Drew guy scowled.

It went silent for a while.

Just then, we all heard a thud, and when I turned around, I saw the door wide open and Sal on the floor. He quickly got up.

"Shuichi, what are you doing?" Mr. Shinji sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh hey, Dad!" Sal cried as if he had just noticed him.

 _Wait. Did he just say Dad?_

"I was just passing so I thought I'd _drop_ by." He laughed nervously. "Haha. Pun intended."

My teacher scowled.

"Oh! So you're Paul's kid?" Angelica's mom exclaimed. "You look just like him!"

"He actually does," my dad agreed.

"His name is Shuichi?" asked Rosie's mom. "What a cute name! Come here, Shuichi!"

Sal—Shuichi— looked uncomfortable.

"No, don't come. Get out," said Mr. Shinji. He stood up and guided the kid out the door. " _Now."_

They walked out the door and closed it. Since I was the nearest to the door I could hear a bit of what they were saying.

"Why are you not in your class?" Mr. Shinji said in a low voice. He sounded something between annoyed, exasperated and angry.

"It was so _boring_. I wanted to know what you guys were talking about."

"Shuichi, you are not—"

"But _Dad_! Why did you have to call me Shuichi in _public_? Now they all know my name!"

Knowing Mr. Shinji, he probably didn't care.

"And also," continued Shuichi. "It sounds so _babyish_. You heard her, she said it sounded cute. Can't I just change my name to Sal—"

" _No,"_ he interrupted. He started to sound a bit warning. "We've talked about this."

"Hmph," I couldn't see what Shuichi was doing, but whatever he did, Mr. Shinji responded by saying (more to himself than to the kid), "And your name means disciplined."

I missed out what they said next because Stem started talking.

"What are they saying?" Stem asked me.

"Stem!" I exclaimed. "You made me miss it!"

"Huh?"

Before Stem could say any more, the door opened again and Mr. Shinji re-entered. Shuichi was now gone.

The adults talked some more and finally, the meeting was over. We kids went back to our classes.

Well that was an interesting (what was supposed to be, at least) meeting.

* * *

 **Chapter four, complete! I was planning to add more stuff but I'll save that for the next chapter. By the way, my school is starting again soon so don't get mad if I don't post for weeks or something. Just saying. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Good bye and have a great day!  
**


	5. Spy Mission

**Hello everyone! I am here with Chapter 5! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Spy Mission  
**

I looked at the note I had in my hand.

 _We meet outside again at break. Kk? Need to tell Angelica and I've heard u sit beside her, so can u tell her plz? —Watergem._

I had found the note in my backpack. I didn't know how it got in there, but I did not like what it said. Sure, the meeting again part was not bad, but what I _didn't_ like was the part on telling Angelica to meet outside. She was still not talking to me and I wanted to keep it that way. I ran my hand down my face.

 _This is pure torture._

I slipped the note into my pocket and headed towards my homeroom class. Angelica turned her head away as usual.

 _Still mad at me, huh?_

I took a deep breath.

"Hey, Angelica," I said, trying to sound cheerful.

She peered at me with one eye.

"So you're going to apologize?" she asked.

"Uh…"

"Then I'm still not talking to you," she said and stubbornly crossed her arms.

The teacher entered the classroom, and pretty soon, math class started. I glanced back at Angelica. I still had to tell her about the meeting outside thing, and if I didn't, Watergem would probably get mad at me too or something.

I sighed.

"Psst. Angelica," I whispered. She ignored me and held her head up high.

This was not working out. I ran my hand through my hair.

 _Think. Think. Think..._

Just then, I had an idea.

I quickly pulled out a loose-leaf paper and started scrawling down a note. Carefully, I slipped it onto her desk. She gave an annoyed sigh.

"You're writing is too messy," she said to me. Too loudly.

Mr. Shinji stared at us with his eyebrow raised. The rest of the class looked at us too.

"B-but Mr. Shinji!" exclaimed Angelica. "I didn't do anything! He keeps passing notes to me and— and I—"

She looked up at the teacher desperately.

I was almost _positive_ that Mr. Shinji was about to roll his eyes, but he didn't. Instead, he picked up the note I had passed to Angelica.

 _Oh no._

He read it.

"One," said the teacher, looking at me. "There is no 'e' in 'I'd'. And two, you misused a semicolon," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Seriously, improve your grammar. And three, you could have just told her after class. If I catch you passing notes again, you'll be getting detention."

I stared at him as he returned to the lesson.

 _Since when did this become English class?_

* * *

I walked through the hallways. The bell had rung for break time, and I still hadn't told Angelica.

 _Eh, whatever. The meeting could probably do without her._

And now to make everyone else believe that…

I headed outside, and found all six of them waiting for me. Including Angelica.

"And of course _you_ come last," huffed Angelica.

I blinked.

"Wait… But I didn't tell you to come…" I said, turning around to everyone, wondering who did.

"Why would _you_ need to tell _me_ to come when _I_ am the one who called this meeting?" demanded the blunette, glaring daggers at me.

"Wait… What?"

I slowly turned to Watergem, my face darkening. Was this some type of joke?

"Thought it would be funny since you don't get along with her much," said Watergem with a shrug. I could tell she was fighting off a smile.

"It was my idea," added Stem.

 _"Ahem._ Now let's start the meeting," said Angelica. "I may not look like a person to start a meeting, but this time, I knew it was necessary. I knew this was a very important matter that needed to be discussed, and that's why we are all here today."

She looked around seriously, as if she were giving some sort of a speech or something.

"Before I tell you this, I must warn you that this may come to you as a shock, but you must not panic. I've got everything planned. I've got every detail planned on what we're going to do. And since you're probably going to ask, I'll tell you that I've also planned out _how_ we're going to do it and—"

"Just get to the point already!" I exclaimed. Angelica opened her mouth as if she were going to say something to me, but she closed it and turned her head away instead.

"We are going on a mission," she announced clearly. "It is a very risky mission, but we are going to do it. We're going to be spies, and solve a mystery. We are going to find out about the true Mr. Shinji, what he does at home, his _true_ identity _._ We are going to follow his car all the way to his house and find out. And we are all going to do it together. We are going to work as a team, whether we get along or not and we will succeed!"

There was silence for a moment.

"And why exactly," asked Watergem, an eyebrow raised, "are we doing this?"

"What do you think he is? A secret agent in disguise or something?" I said, rolling my eyes.

Angelica's determined look faded. I guess this was not the reaction she had been expecting.

"Well," Angelica said, her eyes starting to water a bit. "Well, I mean, you can never be too sure. We'll be the first to find out, right? I was thinking we could do it after school today."

More silence.

"Hey. Maybe you're right," Rosie said finally. "A little adventure actually sounds kinda fun! Count me in!"

Shu raised his hand a bit as if to say to count him in too.

"Hmm. I've always been curious about the guy," said Stem. "And who knows? Maybe he _is_ hiding some sort of secret. Count me in too!"

"I don't want you guys to have all the fun without me," said Watergem. "I'm in. Though I think we need a better plan on how."

They all turned to me and Tom.

"Can't," said Tom. "My grandma is coming over tonight. I have to stay home. And I also need to go to my Calculus club after school, so I'm afraid I won't be available."

They all looked at me. I fidgeted a bit.

Uh, well…" I thought on how to say it to make me not sound too enthusiastic. "Sure, whatever," I said with a shrug.

Angelica's face lit up and she smiled excitedly.

"All right!" she exclaimed. "So as soon as school ends?"

"I'll tell my mom I'm going to a friend's house," said Stem. "We all need a good excuse so the adults don't get suspicious."

"Yeah," agreed Rosie.

 _Looks like sixth grade just got a bit more exciting._

* * *

"So how are we going to know which car is Mr. Shinji's?" asked Watergem, as we all, excluding Tom, stood in the staff parking lot after school. We had all hid our backpacks behind the school dumpsters. After all, it _is_ quite hard to go on a mission with heavy backpacks on our backs.

Shu nudged Stem who was nearest to him, and nodded towards a car. We all turned around.

"Wow," I said, staring wide-eyed at a Ferrari car. Leaning on the side of the car was none other but Shuichi Shinji.

"It's just Sal," pointed out Angelica, looking slightly uninterested. "Why are you all staring?"

It wasn't the guy we were staring at, it was the car he was leaning on.

"Mr. Shinji must be rich," said Stem, voicing my thoughts.

Rosie rolled her eyes and stood beside Angelica.

" _Boys_ ," she said.

"I guess we found Mr. Shinji's car now, though," said Watergem, joining Rosie.

"Wait, I've got a plan!" Rosie said suddenly. The three girls got into a huddle.

Angelica giggled once Rosie finished speaking.

"But that _is_ very risky," said Watergem, looking slightly amused.

"What?" I asked, diverting my attention from the Ferrari.

"You guys go and find your own way to follow his car and keep up," said Rosie. "We girls have a better plan."

The three girls giggled at the same time.

 _Okay, that was creepy._ Especially the fact that Watergem usually didn't giggle _._

Shu crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"O _kay_ …" said Stem, looking from me to Shu.

Watergem whispered something and the three girls walked away, leaving us behind.

"Wonder what they're up to," said Stem.

Shu shrugged.

"Now _we_ need a plan," I said to the other two. "Any ideas?"

We all thought for a few seconds.

"Hey, what's going on there?" said Stem, looking back at the Ferrari. I looked too.

Sal was suddenly looking a bit more panic-stricken and less chill than he was a minute ago. He was looking through the window of the Ferarri's trunk and making wild gestures. He was mouthing something that looked like 'no'.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY CAR?" a voice suddenly shouted, startling Sal.

At once I recognized the voice belonging to my gym teacher, Mr. Barry. Unlike the other teachers, Mr. Barry liked to be called by his first name. He loved to make us run and never seemed to get tired, and if any once of us stopped to catch our breath, he would yell at us for not trying hard enough. And he'd always have his timer with him, timing everything we do.

"I'M GIVING YOU TEN SECONDS TO RUN!" Mr. Barry yelled. "TEN! NINE!— SEVEN! SIX!"

While giving some last wild gestured to the trunk of the car, Sal dashed off.

I looked at the other two guys. Just then, they both looked at each other, their eyes widened in realization.

"What?" I asked.

"The girls," whispered Stem.

Shu suddenly started running and gestured us to follow. He unlocked his bike from the bicycle rack and slipped on his helmet.

Stem and I looked looked at each other.

"Can't anyone tell me what's going on?" I demanded frustrated.

"The girls!" exclaimed Stem. "That car was not Mr. Shinji's car! So if the girls happened to manage to slip into the trunk…"

"Ohhh!" I exclaimed, slapping my forehead. "Oh man. What do we do now?"

"Beats me," replied Stem. "But Shu seems to have a plan."

I glanced at Shu then back at the Ferarri. Mr. Barry sat into the car, and started the engine.

"Hurry!" exclaimed Shu impatiently. That had been the second time I had heard him speak. Stem and I turned to him.

Shu was sitting on his bike and gesturing for us to hop on.

Stem and I looked at each other.

"But how—"

Mr. Barry started driving away in his car.

"No time to think. Let's get on." Saying that, Stem climbed onto Shu's back and I climbed onto Stem's.

Wobbling under the weight, Shu started pedaling after the car.

Only two minutes had passed, and Mr. Barry had made a sudden turn to the left on the road. The only way to keep up with him was to cross the road using the pedestrian crossing. So we had to press the button and wait. About thirty seconds later, the signal turned on, and once again, Shu sped off. Stem made YOLO signs to anyone that stared. After all, it _was_ rather unusual to see three boys sitting on top of each other on a bike. One person in a car quickly pulled out his phone and viciously started tapping on the screen for who knows what.

By the time we reached the other side of the road, Shu was out of breath. He gestured us to get off, and once we did, he rubbed his back. I looked up for any sight if the Ferarri.

"I think we lost him," I said finally.

"Well I think we need another plan then," said Stem.

Shu stood up straight and looked at Stem. He raised his eyebrow at him.

Stem thought for a moment.

"Hey I've got it!" he cried suddenly. "Okay, Shu. You go on your bike on your own and look for the Ferarri. Gary Junior and I will search on foot. If any of us sees any sign of it, just call the rest of us. Okay?"

Shu and I nodded.

"Let's go,"I said. And so we spread out.

I started walking down a sidewalk. The sun beat hard on my neck and the wind blew in a breeze. A police car on the road whizzed past me.

It was a regular day. And I was a regular boy. Nothing suspicious.

Pretty soon, I found myself in a parking lot of some sort. And guess what? I spotted the Ferarri.

The door opened then closed, and out came Mr. Barry. I watched him walk out… and lock the door.

 _Shoot!_

I watched him as he walked straight into a coffee shop. I knew he would be back any moment.

"Guys! Over here!" I loudly shouted. I knew I was attracting attention. "Guys!"

At once I had Stem and Shu at my sides. I nodded towards the car. The problem was though, how were we going to help the girls get out of the Ferrari with so many people around? And the fact that a few people were staring at us did not help.

"We have to be really careful," Stem whispered, his eyes slowly moving around. "I could divert their attention while you two get the girls out."

Shu and I looked at Stem.

 _What's he up to?_

My buddy suddenly ran to a bush away from the Ferarri and gave a surprised expression.

"Whoa!" he shouted loudly, attracting attention to himself. "Wow! I can't believe it! Look at this everyone!"

He pretended to look at something in the bush.

"Amazing! _Absolutely unbelievably amazing!_ "

A big group of curious grown-ups went to see what he was pointing at.

"What? Where?" someone asked.

"Right _there_!" Stem exclaimed, pointing to a random spot on the ground. "Look closer. It's the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen!"

A few people bent lower to look and a few more people joined to see what was going on.

"I think we should do it now," I whispered to Shu.

Shu followed me to the Ferarri and we both peered inside the trunk's window. All three girls were crammed inside.

"You're lying to us, kid!" some guy from the group of people around Stem shouted. "There's nothing there!"

"No really! _Look_!" my friend protested.

"He's trying to make a fool of us," someone else from the crowd said. More people grumbled in agreement.

"We better hurry," I mumbled.

I tried opening the trunk but it wouldn't budge. Same with the doors.

"Gary Junior! Kid-who's-name-I-keep-forgetting!" Mr. Barry's voice suddenly shouted. "What do you guys think you're doing?!"

My head shot up.

Mr. Barry stood over us with an eyebrow raised, sipping from a cup of Cappuccino with extra whipped cream on top.

Shu and I stood frozen.

Mr. Barry took another sip.

"What's in there that's so interesting that every kid keeps looking at?" my physical education teacher asked. He peered inside the trunk.

"What the—"

"I can explain," I said quickly. "You see, it's all a misunderstanding. We needed to go to one of our teacher's house to uh, hand in, um, a project! Unfortunately, I, um, lost the paper on which he had written his house address for us. We thought that this was _his_ car so the girls snuck in thinking that we would be able to give it to him that way. But, uh…"

 _Well it wasn't a complete lie._

"I understand! I understand!" said Mr. Barry. He gave an airy laugh. "Kids are so weird," he muttered to himself. "So which teacher's house do you need to go to?" he asked.

"Um, uh, Mr. Shinji," I replied.

"Oh, you mean _Paul_?" Mr. Barry said. A sudden childish excitement lit up in his eyes. "Well then, why didn't you say so?"

"Uh…"

" _I_ can drive you there!" he exclaimed, without waiting for a reply. "His house is about a ten minute drive from here; way too far for you kids to walk. I recently moved very close to his house so it would be no sweat for me."

"Uh…" I stood there, dumbfounded. "Um, thanks!"

"Oh, how funny!" I heard Stem's voice shout. "I guess it must've been my imagination! See ya!"

I looked up to see my friend running towards us.

"Hi Mr. Barry!" said Stem like nothing was wrong. I noticed that the people were looking at Stem with an either bemused or annoyed expression.

"Hello Root!" said Mr. Barry.

"It's Stem," Stem corrected. "Root is my brother."

Mr. Barry didn't seem to hear him.

"Gary Junior was just telling me of how you guys needed to go to Paul's house to hand in a project," explained the teacher. "You know what? I could drive you there. Hop in! Oh yeah, and I better let the girls out of the trunk. Don't want to be accused of kidnapping."

As Mr. Barry turned to open the trunk, Stem gave me a half smile and mouthed 'nice going'. I gave a half smile back.

Pretty soon, the girls were all out of the trunk and facing Mr. Barry.

"Oh, uh, Mr. Barry?" Watergem started nervously.

"No need to explain! No need to explain!" said Mr. Barry, waving his hands. "I _know_! Gary Junior here has already explained to me! But don't worry, I'm not mad at you guys! Really!"

Watergem blinked a bunch of times.

"Hop in my car. I'll drive you to Paul's house," finished the teacher. He unlocked the car with a remote key.

Slowly, I walked to the car and opened the door. I sat onto one seat. It was luxurious! It was extremely comfortable and had a lot of foot space. But then it took me a moment to realize that there were only three other seats left, including the driver's seat.

Mr. Barry opened the front door and sat onto the driver's seat.

"What are you guys standing there for?" Mr. Barry shouted at the others. "Come in! Just there isn't enough space for all of you so a few may have to sit on the car floor."

This got all of their attention. At once they all rushed to the car. Stem sat on the front seat beside Mr. Barry, Shu was about to sit on the last seat left, which was beside me, but then Rosie beat him to it and gave him a triumphant look.

"Aww. No fair," Angelica said with a pout. Still, she sat on the floor in front of Rosie, Watergem squished in beside her, and Shu sat on the floor in front of me.

 _Goodbye foot space._

Everyone was ready to go. Mr. Barry started driving.

"Y'know," said the teacher, placing his Cappuccino in the cup holder beside him. "You guys are lucky to have Paul as your teacher."

I raised my eyebrows.

 _Lucky?_

"Back when I was young," he continued, "Paul was in my college class, and he used to ignore me."

There was silence for a moment.

"But, oh well! That was a long time ago. It shouldn't matter anymore!" Mr. Barry laughed like his normal self again.

I don't know why, but something about the atmosphere in the car was starting to make me feel extremely uncomfortable. The others seemed to be feeling the same. I looked outside. It was starting to get really dark.

After about a minute, I suddenly heard a police car from somewhere nearby.

"Kids on the floor, stay low," whispered Mr. Barry, as he pulled over to the side of the road. "There's a police car coming."

The police car pulled over behind the Ferrari. Mr. Barry lowered his window as a policewoman got out of her car and walked to his window.

"License?" she asked. Mr. Barry handed her his license card. She checked it over.

"ID card?"

Mr. Barry looked slightly surprised and confused at the same time, but then he handed her his ID card. After checking it over, she gave a nod then handed both cards back to my teacher. The policewoman then peered in the car from Stem, to me, to Rosie. I don't think she noticed the rest staying low on the floor.

"Who are these kids?"

"They're, um, family friends," replied Mr. Barry.

I got an odd feeling.

 _Why is he lying?_

The policewoman looked doubtful.

"May I please check your car?" she asked.

Mr. Barry gulped.

"Uh, sure," he said. "Why not?"

I couldn't believe it. Mr. Barry knew that if the policewoman checked the car, she would see the rest of the kids on the car floor. That would mean trouble, all right.

Sure enough, she opened the back door, the one beside Rosie, and her eyes landed on Watergem, Angelica, and then Shu. And her eyes stayed on Shu.

"You are Drew Hayden's son," she said. "Am I right?"

Shu hesitantly gave a nod.

"You were reported missing about an hour ago."

Shu gulped.

The policewoman clicked her tongue. She then pulled out her walkie-talkie.

"Jenny, we've got a case here with a car full of children, one of whom was reported missing, in a Ferarri car, licence plate number: IKR I8U2. I could use some assistance here, at Lilac Street, just a bit ahead of the school zone area."

"I'm on my way, Jenny," another lady replied from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

The policewoman turned back to us.

"Your parents will be called," she advised us. "Get out of the car, right now."

We did as we were told. Another police car had arrived and was parked behind the first. A policewoman got out of it and went to Mr. Barry, who was out of his car now.

"Do these look familiar?"

My attention snapped back to the first policewoman. She was holding six backpacks in her hands. Our backpacks.

I guiltily looked down.

* * *

Grounded.

What I really wanted to do right now was to talk with Stem on the phone. But I wasn't allowed.

The policewoman had made us get in her car, and she called each of our parents. She made us tell our parents on the phone that we were safe and okay. Then she drove us home. My dad wasn't very happy. Especially because I had lied to him and said that I was going over to Stem's house after school. The next thing I knew, I was grounded for three weeks. No video games, no phone calls, just walking around in my room with not much to do.

All I could do was think. Think about what had happened. Think about whose fault all of this was. Angelica maybe? The spy mission was her idea, after all. But then it was Rosie's idea for the girls to get into the car, which was why we had ended up following it and ended up in Mr. Barry's car.

I kicked a paper airplane that was on the floor.

On the way in the police car, the policewoman had asked us many questions. I told her the same story I had told Mr. Barry. She said she was glad that I told her the truth. I felt my neck burn. She seemed nicer after that. She told us that we didn't know how much trouble we had caused and that it was all a very big deal. She kept repeating things she had already said. It was all very tiring.

8:36 pm, the clock read. I stopped walking upon noticing that the paper airplane was at my feet again. I kicked it harder this time. It looked more like a crumpled piece of paper now, helplessly lying on the ground. I picked it up, tossed it up, then kicked it again. It hit against the wall, then fell back to the floor.

I glared at it. It was annoying me. Everything was annoying me.

I pulled out my homework book and started doing my homework, just to keep my mind off of things.

* * *

The next day, I entered my homeroom class at school. I took my usual seat and noticed that Angelica had her head down on her desk, her arms covering her face.

Well that was unusual. I stared at her for a moment. She peeked up.

"I'm not allowed to be with you guys anymore," she said in a small voice. "My mom doesn't know that it was all my idea. She thinks that it's your guys' fault and that you are all a bad influence on me."

It took me moment to realize that she was talking about the event that had taken place yesterday.

She lifted her head and looked at me.

"I don't think it's your guys' fault," she said, talking in her normal voice again. "We all just wanted to have fun; after all, we're still kids. We all just wanted to _do_ something. But then Sal ruined everything. Why did he have to lean on someone _else_ 's car? I mean, isn't that _wrong_? I don't like Sal. It's just—"

"Angelica," I hissed, quickly stopping her. I nodded towards Mr. Shinji. I couldn't tell whether or not he was eavesdropping. I hoped not.

"What?" the blunette asked.

"He can probably _hear_ you," I whispered, pointing out the obvious.

"So?" she replied, lowering her voice a bit. She gave a secret smile then whispered, "I don't like him that much either."

I raised my eyebrows. I wasn't expecting Angelica to say that. Was she feeling all right?

Soon, math class started. Angelica didn't seem to pay attention the entire time. I wondered what was up.

After a few more classes, break time arrived. I went outside to see where the others were. The weather was starting to get a bit more chilly. I didn't see the others anywhere, but what I _did_ see made my mouth drop open.

"You better say sorry!" Angelica demanded, glaring at Shuichi. "That wasn't even your car!"

"Whoa! Chill it! It's a guy thing! You won't understand!" Shuichi protested. "It made me look _cool_!"

I walked over to where they were.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"So what? You don't know how much trouble you caused all of us!" Angelica exclaimed, ignoring me. "It got the police involved, you know."

Shuichi crossed his arms. "Well it wasn't my fault that you decided to somehow slip into the car's trunk. You should be glad that I at least tried to _warn_ y—"

"But why were you leaning on it then? You knew it wasn't—"

"I _told_ you that you _won't understand!_ " The guy was started to sound exasperated.

"Shuichi," I said. "You _do_ know that this is all _kinda_ your fault."

"Don't call me that!" the guy snapped back, looking harsher than I had known him to be. "I'm outta here," he said before walking off. Angelica ran off in the opposite direction.

I stood there, stunned.

 _What's going on?_

* * *

 **Chapter five, finished! Well, that took longer to write than I had expected! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and stay tuned for the next one. Have a great day!  
**


	6. Rosie's House

**Hi everybody! I am here with chapter 6! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Rosie's House**

Stem's P.O.V

"Stem! Hurry up or we're going to be late!" my mom shouted from downstairs.

"What should I wear?" I shouted back, staring into my closet full of green shirts.

Within seconds, my mom entered my room and pulled out a yellow and green striped shirt from somewhere in my closet and shoved it into my hands. "Wear this."

"But _Mom_!" I complained. "A yellow stem means it's halfway dead, and a blue stem means it has some weird type of fungus growing o—"

With a sigh she handed me a plain green t-shirt.

"Okay!" I said, as she walked out of my room.

The day was Saturday, two days after the whole spy mission event.

After a while, I went downstairs, wearing a plain green t-shirt and blue jeans. Root came a few minutes later, wearing an open brown sweater over a black t-shirt, and black trousers. He was reading a book and absorbing whatever information that was in it. Quite like a root, I should say.

"To the car, everyone!" my mom said, herding me and Root out the door. "Oh yeah, and you're not invited, Twig," she called out to my dad.

"Yeah, _Twig_ ," I repeated jokingly, before closing the door behind me.

We were all sitting in the car, ready to go, when…

"Wait!" cried Root. "I forgot to eat breakfast!"

My mom sighed.

"All right. Go and grab something to eat on the way," she ordered tiredly. "And be quick! We're almost late!"

Pretty soon, Root was back in the car beside me, munching on a nutrition bar, and reading his book. My mother started driving.

"What are you reading?" I asked my twelve-year-old brother. He looked up and pushed his root-like hair off his eyes.

"You're too young to know," he replied with a hint of a smirk.

 _Yeah, like one year makes a huuuge difference._

"Ooh, it must be something _embarrassing!_ " I teased. I tried grabbing the book and we both got into a little tussle. Eventually, I realized that whatever book he was reading, he was reading a chapter about how a root is an important part of a plant.

 _Seriously?_

Finally we arrived in front of a red and white house.

"We're here," said my mom. "We're finally here at May's house."

 _So this is what Rosie's house looks like._

* * *

"Rosie! Your friend is here!" called Rosie's mom once we were all inside. The house smelled like noodles. There was no reply.

I looked around. There was a sitting area where all of the grown-ups were sitting to the left, while on the right, there were stairs leading to the second floor. The kitchen was a bit ahead, and farther on, there was a passageway with many doors.

"So you must be the older one," Rosie's mom said to Root. She led him to some room in the passage way. I followed.

"Here's the older kids' room!" she exclaimed, opening a door on the left. I peered inside. It looked like some sort of guest room. There were three other teenagers sitting inside it. Gary Junior's sister – Daisalyn – and that Shuichi-Sal guy sat on separate sofas, doing whatever they were doing on their phones, while another girl with long navy-blue hair sat across from them looking from one to the other as if she wanted to say something. She looked about fifteen years old or something.

"Root!" cried Daisalyn as soon as she saw my brother. She quickly pocketed her phone. "Finally you're here! You know what happened to me yesterday?"

She started babbling about whatever as my brother sat on a chair nearby, and Rosie's mom closed the door. She looked at me as if she had just noticed me.

"Oh!" she cried in surprise. She led me away from the passageway and stood by the stairs.

" _Rosie_!" she called out again.

After a minute, Rosie finally came downstairs looking slightly irritated.

"Come on up to my room," she said and just walked back upstairs. I followed her.

Pretty soon, I found myself in a bedroom full of stuffies. Rosie and Angelica were sitting in the corner of the room with a toy tea-party set and seemed to be playing tea-party.

 _Oh come on. They still play tea-party?_

I overheard a bit of their conversation.

"Here you go Ms. Angelica, I'll put some sugar in your tea— Whoops. That was salt!"

"No need to worry, Madam Rosie, I put some pepper in your tea for some flavour!"

"I was _wondering_ what those black things were!"

Oh, no. Those are just the cockroaches!"

Both girls burst into giggles.

I gave them an odd look, then I walked to where to the others were.

Gary Junior, Watergem, and Shu all looked slightly bored. Tom didn't seem to be here yet.

"Hey, what's up?" I said, plopping down in front of them.

Gary Junior shrugged.

"No topic," Watergem explained.

"It's kinda boring, really," added Gary Junior. "There's nothing to do or talk about here."

"Why don't we play tea party?" I said innocently, saying the first thing that came to mind. I sipped from an imaginary tea-cup.

" _Angelica_!" I suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice shout. "Can _I_ play _too_?"

I looked up to see a girl who looked quite like a miniature Angelica sitting beside her, clinging to the older one's arm. She had pink ribbon bows on both side of her hair and she wore a pink dress over a purple shirt and pink knee-socks.

"Not _now,_ Valentina," Angelica said exasperatedly. "You're too little. This isn't a little kid tea-party, you know."

"I am _not_ too little!"

"Wait," said Gary Junior. "Let me get this straight. _You_ have a _sister_?"

"Two," replied Angelica.

I nearly spit out the imaginary tea in my mouth.

 ** _Angelica_** _had **two** sisters?! How did their mother survive all that girlyness? …Unless she was that girly herself._

"This is Valentina. She's five," Angelica introduced, gesturing to the girl beside her. Valentina gave the type of sweet smile troublemakers give.

"I also have an older sister," continued Angelica. "Her name is Alaina. She's fifteen, but right now, she's downstairs. My younger sister, Valentina, can be very annoying sometimes."

"Look who's talking," grumbled Gary Junior.

Angelica immediately stood up and faced him with a glare. Gary Junior stood up and faced her himself.

"Do you think you're funny being mean like that?" the girl demanded. "You know, that's not very nice of you. First, you were mean when I was very nice with you, now you're being mean when I'm not even talking to you. Is this just part of your personality being like that? You're such a— such a mean—"

"Not _again_ ," Rosie groaned. "Angelica, just ignore him."

"You tell him, Angelica!" Valentina cheered.

Angelica thought for a moment. Then she gave a little smile as if she knew what she was going to say was not very nice.

" _Heartless hedgehog,_ " she whispered.

I snorted.

 _Wow really? Poor Gary Junior. Worst insult in the world._

Rosie face-palmed, Watergem watched in amusement, and Shu, with a hint of a smirk, seemed to be thinking of something.

Gary Junior stiffened slightly and glared back at her.

"You really think that's gonna work?" he said as if it didn't affect him. Although I'm pretty sure it did.

Angelica glared harder. I could almost see sparks coming out of her eyes.

"You're not getting away with this," she said. "You've gone too far now."

Rosie stood up.

" _Guys_ ," she said, standing in between the two. "We're supposed to be having fun, not arguing!"

"I'm not letting him get away with this," Angelica said darkly.

"Angelica!" cried Rosie. "Gary Junior! Why can't you guys just get along? What's _wrong_ with y— Wait. Shu, are you recording?!"

Shu, who was holding up his iPod touch taking a video, smirked.

"You delete that!" shouted Rosie, making a grab for the grass-head's device.

"I'm still recording, y'know," mumbled the smirking Shu, with a flip of his hair. He held his iPod out of her reach.

"Wait," said Rosie, thrown slightly off guard. "You talked!"

"Yeah, so?" the guy replied.

Rosie stepped backwards, looking surprised and bewildered.

"What the—"

I sat back with my hands behind my head and watched the scene.

 _How very entertaining._

Watergem seemed more interested in Angelica and Gary Junior's arguing and glaring at each other.

Just then, I heard the doorbell ring from downstairs.

"S-sorry," I heard Tom's dad gasp after a few seconds. "Forgot where I put the car keys. Hope I'm not too late."

"Rosie! Your friend is here!" Rosie's mom shouted.

Rosie seemed too busy trying to snatch the iPod from Shu.

" _Rosie!_ " exclaimed her mom once again.

Rosie finally gave a defeated sigh.

" _Coming_ ," she mumbled and headed down the stairs. " _Again._ "

With a triumphant look, Shu stopped recording, turned off his device, then placed it on a side-table beside him.

Gary Junior and Angelica turned away from each other and sat back at their places.

"I hope I haven't missed anything important," Tom Ato said, walking through the bedroom door after Rosie.

"Oh, no, nothing at all," replied Watergem with a hint of sarcasm. "Anyways, why are you late?"

"Dad lost the keys again," said Tom, exasperatedly running his hand through his hair. He walked over and sat on a chair near the window and looked outside. "Why was Mr. Barry not at school yesterday?" he asked not looking at us.

"Uh…" We all looked at one another.

"After a few calculations, I figured that his absence had something to do with the spy mission you guys went on on Thursday," he said. He turned around. "So am I right?"

No one said anything.

"Another observation I made," continued Tom. "is that Stem and Watergem looked surprised with a hint of guilt on that day. Unfortunately, I was unable to see the rest, because of the separation of our classes. So?"

There was a bit more silence.

"Okay, I'll explain," I said finally, since nobody else seemed to. "It all started like this…"

I told him what had happened, about the car, the police, I told him every detail. By the time I finished, Tom's expression changed.

"What?!" he exclaimed, turning to us. "Are you guys crazy? That can lead Mr. Barry to court! My father is a lawyer, so I know this stuff. It's a serious thing!"

"Wait," said Rosie suddenly, turning to Tom. " _Your_ dad is a _lawyer_?"

"Yup. Ashy-boy's a lawyer," said Gary Junior, folding his arms behind his head as if he had always wanted to say that.

"That's not my point," said Tom with a scowl. "This could lead to big trouble. Trouble involving the police and court and stuff. The first step is that Mr. Barry should get a lawyer if he hasn't already. We'll ask people and find out where he lives or whatever, but we need to talk to Mr. Barry."

"Your dad's a lawyer," I said slowly. "Why not just ask him to be Mr. Barry's lawyer?"

"It isn't just an easy one day process, guys," said Tom. "It includes lots of paperwork and— and we don't even know where Mr. Barry lives! I mean, what if he doesn't come to school on Monday like yesterday?"

"I think I can help you with that."

We all turned around. Sal stood outside the door, leaning on a wall.

"What? I got bored," he said with a shrug. "Not very interesting listening to people talking about roots and daisies. Trust me, I'm not kidding."

"Why are _you_ here, Alaina?" Angelica asked. It took me a moment to realize that there was someone else behind Sal. I recognized her as the girl with the navy blue hair who was in the "older kids'" room earlier.

"There was nothing else to do," replied the girl. "Can't I check on my cute little sister?"

"She's talking to you, Valentina," said Angelica.

"No!" cried the youngest.

"Wait, so what did you mean when you said you could help us?" Watergem asked, directing the attention back on Sal.

"Well," the guy replied with a smirk. "Mr. Barry happens to be just a few houses away from mine. And he always drops by every time he passes our house just to say hi. I could simply ask if you guys could come over to my house for a few hours some day, and the next time Mr. Barry comes again, you guys could have the chat you want to have with him or whatever. Sound good?"

"That's great!" exclaimed Gary Junior.

"But first we need to make sure that Tom's dad agrees with being Mr. Barry's lawyer if he doesn't have one," said Watergem.

"But is he a _good_ lawyer?" Rosie asked hesitantly. "I mean, I don't want to be rude but…"

"He's a good lawyer, all right," said Tom. "Even at home he complains about the injustice of… stuff."

"We can go down to ask, now," suggested Angelica, standing up.

"I'll come too!" exclaimed Valentina.

"Sure. Why not?" I said.

Pretty soon, we were all headed downstairs. We passed Tom's younger siblings, Anne Chobi and Caesar Sald, who we found in the kitchen taking turns drinking ketchup out of the bottle.

Tom just shook his head and we walked to the living room where the grownups were. The television was turned on on the weather channel and it was unnaturally quiet.

They all turned as we entered.

"Looks like the kids noticed the weather outside," Angelica's mom said somewhat gloomily.

"I did," said Tom. "But that's not exactly why we came here."

"What about the weather?" I asked. I could tell by the expressions that it was not good news.

"Well, you see," my mother explained. "The weather seems to be extremely stormy and according to the weather report, it's not going to get any better soon. In fact, it's going to get worse."

"And it's not too safe to drive outside in a weather condition like that," added Watergem's mom.

"So," Gary Junior's dad said. "It seems as though it's best to…"

"Stay here," finished Rosie's mom.

"Hey, but no storm's gonna stop us," protested Tom's dad. "Isn't that right, Tom Ato? I mean, I can drive in all sorts of weather conditions. It's no big deal!"

Tom scowled.

"I could call the chauffeur," said Shu's dad. "But then… Well, if the weather's getting worse, I don't want to risk anything."

"Wait, wait, wait," Gary Junior said slowly. "What do you mean by stay here? You mean like overnight?!"

"Yup. Exactly what we mean," his dad replied to him.

"But mom!" exclaimed Alaina. "I didn't bring my toothbrush _or_ night clothes! We can't sleep here!"

" _I_ didn't bring mine _either_!" exclaimed Angelica, looking shocked.

" _Me_ _neither_!" added Valentina.

Gary Junior and I exchanged glances.

 _Looks like it's going to be one long night…_

* * *

 **And chapter 6 is complete! Stem's point of view! Were you expecting it? I'm planning on trying a few different points of views for further chapters. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed… And stay tuned for the next chapter! Have a good day!  
**


	7. The Phone

**Hi everyone! I'm here with chapter 7! Enjoy reading!**

 **I do not own Pokémon in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Phone  
**

Angelica's P.O.V  


" _Valentina!_ What _now?_ " I whispered exasperatedly, when my little sister poked me on the shoulder for the third time.

Valentina looked around the dark living room to make sure no one was listening. I looked too, but I could only see shadows of the others sleeping on the ground with us, covered in blankets.

"My feet are getting hot," she whispered back.

"Then take off your knee-socks."

"I can't do that!" my sister exclaimed. "I'm not even wearing tights! My knees will get cold!"

A few of the others tossed and turned.

"Sshh!" I whispered frantically. "The others could wake up."

Valentina bottom lip quivered.

 _Oh no. That's not a good sign. If she cries, then everyone will wake up. Then mom would come to see what's going on and then Mr. Hedgehog-Head would start blaming me for stuff I didn't do. Like he does at school.  
_

"Don't cry," I did some quick thinking. "Valentina, it's okay," I said. "You can take off your knee-socks then cover your knees with the blanket. That way your knees won't get cold."

Valentina nodded and did what I told her.

 _Phew!_

Valentina stuck her bottom lip out again and shifted closer to me.

" _Angelica_ ," she said overly innocently. "The storm outside is scaring me. I'm very, very scared now."

I sighed.

Sometimes being the big sister was not that easy.

* * *

My eyes popped open again. This time, though, Valentina was sleeping. I slowly sat up and looked around. My eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly and I could see Rosie sleeping on my other side, then there was Watergem, Tom, Shu, Stem... Wait. Mr. Headgehog-Head was not there.

"Oh great," I whispered to myself. "He's probably off making trouble."

I scowled.

 _Why am I always the one left responsible to keep him out of mischief?_

I pulled out the mini hairbrush from my pocket and quickly fixed my hair. Then with an annoyed look, I stood up and went to investigate. The light near the entrance door was turned on and I saw him. He was in front of the coat closet, with his hand rummaging inside someone's coat pocket. I widened my eyes in horror.

 _Good thing I caught him in time._

"You pickpocket!" I shouted, pointing at him accusingly. "How could you—"

"Ssshhhh!" he hissed, with gritted teeth. "Angelica! I'm not stealing!"

 _He thinks he could get away that easily?_

"Okay look," he said. He pulled out what he was looking for. "First of all, this is my dad's coat, so it's no big deal. Second of all, Why don't you ever mind your own bus—"

I gasped. He was holding a mini black bottle in his hand. I didn't know what it was, but what I _did_ know was that it had a 'flammable' symbol on it, like we had learned about in science class.

"That's dangerous!" I exclaimed. "Are you crazy? It can catch on fire!"

"It's just _hairspray,_ you—"

"Hey, I thought you used hair gel, Gary Junior," a voice suddenly said from behind me. "Since when did you start using hairspray?"

I turned around and saw Stem, followed by Rosie, Shu, and Watergem.

"What are you—" The hedgehog-head face-palmed.

There a short silence.

"Well, now that we're up," said Rosie. "I'm not so sleepy anymore. Let's do something."

"Tsh, like have a party or something?" snickered Watergem. "Sound fine to me."

"Yeah, I don't think any of us are sleepy anymore," said Stem, with a yawn. "What do you guys wanna do?"

I glanced at Hedgehog-Head and shook my head in disapproval as he pocketed the black bottle in his hand.

" _Stop,_ " he mumbled, glaring at me.

I think Stem was about to say something, but then, Rosie spoke up.

"Hey, what's up Shu?" she asked. We all turned to the green-haired boy.

"My iPod," he said in nearly a whisper, patting his pockets. "I forgot it in your room."

"Aha! You talked," Rosie said triumphantly. Then seeing his expression she added, "Hey, can't you just wait 'till the grown-ups wake up?" she asked. "I mean, I think some of them are sleeping in my room, so we can't go in."

Shu shook his head. He didn't look very happy.

Just then, I had an idea.

"Hey, guys," I said excitedly. "Maybe _that_ could be our fun thing to do right now! We can go on a top secret mission to get Shu's iPod without waking up the grown-ups. We have to be super quiet, though," A whole plan started coming to my head. "because if we get caught, we'll get into big trouble. Then my mom would think that you guys are a bad influence on me, and I won't be allowed to hang out with you guys. Speaking of-"

"Not bad, I like it," Watergem interrupted. "But who's gonna go and get it? Like, we all can't go at the same time, right?"

We all looked at each other.

"Shu?" Rosie asked.

Shu shook his head.

"But if only one person goes," I said. "Then all of us won't be having fun. I mean, what's the fun in just waiting for someone else to go on a mission instead of going on the mission yourself?"

Rosie gave me a half smile.

"Then why don't _you_ go, Angelica?" she said. "It was your idea."

"What? No way!" said Hedgehog-Head. "She'll get us all caught."

"Would not!" I shouted back.

Why did he always have to be so _rude_?

"Guys, guys," said Stem. "Okay. Gary Junior, I think Rosie is right. Angelica should be the one to go."

"But-"

"No buts, ifs, or ands, Dear," Stem said in a mother-like voice. Then he whispered something in his friend's ear.

"You've got this, Angelica," cheered Rosie.

I smiled.

 _I've got this._

* * *

It was very, very dark. I looked around, trying to locate Rosie's room. I had forgotten to ask which one was hers.

 _I think it was this one._ I thought, standing in front of the room at the far left of the hallway.

I slowly opened the door.

My heart gave a leap as I saw someone staring straight at me. _Mr. Shinji._

I stood there frozen, convinced that I was caught. I was about to scream, but then, I noticed that his eyes were closed. He was sleeping. I stood there for a few seconds, shaking.

 _That was a close one._

Just then, I remembered why I was there in the first place.

I quickly grabbed the iPod from the side-table, and I managed to get back downstairs as quickly as I could without making a sound.

"I-I got it," I panted, beaming happily.

I told them all every detail of how I got up, to how I saw Mr. Shinji, to how I grabbed the iPod and came back without getting caught. It had definitely been very exciting.

"Nice going, Angelica!" said Rosie.

I smiled and held the iPod to Shu. He just stared at it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

He just shook his head then slapped his forehead.

Watergem came and grabbed the iPod from me. She turned it around and looked at its back.

"This is an iPhone," she said slowly. "Not an iPod touch. Not Shu's iPod."

"And it's black," added Rosie. "Shu's iPod is green."

It slowly started to sink in. I gulped, trying not to cry. All that work was for nothing.

" _Oh great_ ," said Hedgehog-Head. "Just _great._ You take like forever, then you come back with the wrong thing. I was _saying_ we shouldn't let Angelica be the one to go up and get it."

I felt hurt. I felt that I had let them all down.

I looked down and slowly started walking away.

"Wait," said Rosie. I turned around. "Let's see who's phone it is first."

"Yeah," said Stem. "I wonder whose it is."

We all crowded around Watergem as she pressed the on button.

"Is that..." Watergem trailed off.

We all looked at the home-screen wallpaper closer.

It was a photo of what looked like a younger Sal wearing a suit and tie with his arms folded in front of him. He had a serious expression.

"Wait. Didn't you say you saw Mr. Shinji when you got the phone?" asked Stem, turning to me. "Suppose this is Mr. Shinji's phone?"

"Ooh," said Rosie. "We could get in trouble."

"We have Mr. Shinji's phone," said Stem. "And we're alone. And he's sleeping."

There was silence for a moment as we all let that sink in.

Stem and Hedgehog-Head looked at each other with identical half smiles.

"Hold up," said Watergem. "You guys aren't thinking of looking though his phone, are you?"

"Not like he's gonna know," mused Hedgehog-Head.

"But that's invading someone else's privacy," she replied. "And anyways, we don't even know his password."

"Sal might know."

"He's sleeping."

"So? We'll wake him up."

"Guys," Rosie said, hesitantly. "I don't think we should do it."

I was unsure. While it wasn't really the right thing to do, maybe this was the best way to go on a mission to find out about Mr. Shinji. I mean, wasn't this what we had been trying to do a few days earlier? Be spies?

I took a deep breath.

"I'll go wake up Sal," I said, finally. Everyone gaped at me. "I know it's not the right thing to do, but maybe Mr. Shinji _is_ hiding some type of secret. Who knows what we'll find? Maybe we'll find answers to why our parents are so happy to see him."

"But Angelica," started Rosie. "I thought-"

"Hey, you're smarter than I thought," said... Fine, fine. I'll called him Gary Junior. Though that name reminds me of when I had thought he was my friend at first. Before he betrayed me.

Watergem handed me the phone and I walked into the living room and located Sal sleeping with the others.

This didn't feel right. No, I couldn't.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting beside Sal, unsure how to wake him up.

"Sal?"

He didn't seem to hear me.

I turned on the iPhone's flashlight and shone it on his face.

He put his blanket over his head.

"Turn it off," he grumbled.

I did.

"Sal?" I repeated.

He looked at me looking rather bewildered. He sat up and looked around.

"Oh," he finally said. "Yeah. I forgot." he looked back at me, rubbing his eyes. "Hey. What's up?"

I turned on the phone and showed it to him.

He suddenly looked much more awake than he was a second ago.

"What the- Is that my dad's phone?" he said quietly, though rather incredulously. "How did you- Even _I_ can't get my hands on it, and _I live_ in the same house as him!"

"Do you know the password?" asked Stem, joining me.

"I-" Sal took the phone from my hand and looked at the lock-screen photo. "He put me as his background photo? I-"

Sal looked speechless. He didn't look as chill as I'd seen him be before.

"I'm dreaming," he said. "No, I can't be awake. This is _weird._ "

He pinched himself.

"Ouch!"

"Sal, you're not dreaming," Watergem said, exasperatedly. The rest of us were sitting around him now. "So do you know the password, or not?"

"I-" Sal looked back at the phone. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. "Yes. Yes, I've seen him type his password in before. I remember it." he said finally.

He looked like his normal self again.

"Yeah, I'll type it in," he said, before any of us could say anything more. "Here."

He handed Stem the phone, now unlocked.

"Sal, you didn't even hesitate," Rosie said, accusingly. "That's your dad's phone!"

"I'm getting him back for calling me my real name in front of everyone," he replied with a shrug. "Anyways, I'm also curious as to what's on his phone."

I glanced at the time. It was 7:03am.

The adults were probably going to wake up pretty soon.

"Hey, check this out guys," Stem said, showing us a photo on Mr. Shinji's phone.

It appeared to be a college photo of Mr. Shinji with some friends. These friends appeared to be younger versions of all our parents.

"Is that my dad?" asked Gary Junior. "That's so cool."

"So they were all friends after all," said Watergem.

We all looked at it for a moment until Stem swiped to the next photo. He looked taken-aback.

"What the-"

When I saw it, my mouth dropped and Watergem raised her eyebrows. Stem and Gary Junior looked at each other and Rosie and Shu looked just as shocked.

Sal was the first to speak.

" _What on earth?"_

* * *

 **And done! Stay tuned for the next chapter. Follow, favourite, review, and have a great day!**


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